Chapter I – The Casket and the Gems

Once upon a time – and perhaps still now – there was a knight who had lost his way. He once had a clear heart and a noble purpose. Close to his heart, he kept a small casket in which **three precious gems** sparkled. Every day he would caress them, clean them with care, protect them from cold, dust, and time. They were silent, living lights. They were his children. He took them with him everywhere. In them, he found his strength. But walking and walking, the knight and his gems arrived in a place unlike any they had known before. A place where his voice no longer echoed, where his charisma was no longer recognized, where his strength seemed to vanish. It was a place where honor no longer mattered, nor did respect. A place where the virtues of the past seemed useless. And there, in that foreign and hostile land, the knight felt lost, weak, almost useless. Without even realizing it, he began to neglect the casket. Not because he no longer loved his gems, but because he felt **incapable of protecting what was most precious to him.** He walked for a long time, in the fog of uncertainty, and ended up losing himself.

Chapter II – The Dark Forces

The Dark Forces did not appear suddenly. They had already crept in long ago, silent, patient, watchful. They lived in whispers, in unspoken rules, in averted gazes, in overly polished smiles. And when they saw the knight tired, isolated, and uncertain, they knew their time had come. They did not strike with swords. But with signatures, documents, words combed to sound just. And so, one day, **without noise and without right**, they opened the casket and took his gems. Without a sound, without the knight being able to oppose it, he was separated from the three most precious gems he had ever possessed: his children. He no longer heard them running through the halls. He no longer heard their whispers, nor their laughter. Only the wind. Only emptiness. And while the world around him accepted everything without flinching, the knight realized that these Forces were not seeking justice. **They were seeking oblivion. They were seeking erasure.**

Chapter III – The Bridge and the Fortress

So the knight set out to find his gems. He asked everywhere, knocked on many doors, searched in villages and the towers of men of law. But no one answered him. Some avoided him. Others looked at him with suspicion. Yet he knew where they were. They had been locked away in the **Fortress of Ice**, a cold and shining stronghold, where everything is still, and emotions freeze. To reach it, he had to cross a bridge: **the Crumbling Bridge of Justice**. When he stepped on it, the bridge creaked, trembled, and finally collapsed beneath him, as if it had never been built to hold him. He fell to the other side of the ravine. Wounded. Alone. The fortress was there, visible, very close. But unreachable. And the knight understood that wishing for justice was not enough. Loving was not enough. That bridge, corrupt and broken, had been built to exclude him. He sat beside the ruins. And in the silence of the night, he swore that one day he would find another way, a truer path. **Because no fortress is eternal when it is built on pain.**

Chapter IV – The Cry in the Silence

But the pain was too great. And so he began to scream. He called out the names of his gems, cried out his love, his truth. He screamed with all the strength in his body. But the more he screamed, the further the fortress seemed to move away. His voice was lost among rocks, clouds, and unwritten laws. No one responded. Not even an echo returned. Only silence. A silence thick as stone. The knight realized that despair weakened him, that the more he thrashed, the more the world abandoned him. And there, in the absolute silence, he understood: **he would not get his gems back by shouting.** He had to walk. Even if no one saw him. Even if every step seemed pointless. With his head high, his heart wounded, and the certainty that **truth would one day find the way.**

Chapter V – The Three Flames

Then, in the deepest solitude, something happened. From the depths of his heart, where pain had taken root, three small lights emerged. They were faint, but warm. Alive. **Three flames.** The first was called **Truth**. “I will guide you,” it said. The second was called **Perseverance**. “I will lift you.” The third was called **Love**. “I will make you invincible.” They were not gems, not gifts from the outside world. They were **what he had always been**. And now, in the silence, in the void, they began to shine again. The flames did not promise him victory. They promised him **strength not to give up.** And that was enough.

Chapter VI – The Battle and the Wind

So, armed only with those three flames, the knight set off again. He had no sword. No shield. But within him he carried everything he needed for his **final battle.** He no longer fought to be seen, but to **be worthy of the day when his gems would awaken.** And when that day comes, when his children open their eyes and ask: **“Where was Dad while all this was happening?”** It will not be a voice that answers, but the wind. And the wind will say: **“Dad was always here. Fighting for you.”**

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